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Small Business An Entrepreneur's Business Plan

Small Business: An Entrepreneur's Plan

Small Business : An Entrepreneur's Business Plan

Small Business An Entrepreneur's Business Plan

Summary

Starting your own business begins today! SMALL BUSINESS: AN ENTREPRENEUR'S BUSINESS PLAN shows you how to identify opportunities and target customers through a practical step-by-step approach. By the time you're done with class, you'll have an excellent business plan in place so you can hit the ground running after graduation. And with powerful study tools built right in, this textbook will help you succeed in class as well.

Table of Contents

Your Great Adventure

1

(20)

Building Your Road Map

2

(3)

Internet Links

5

(1)

Web Link Starting Points

5

(1)

Knocking at the Entrepreneurial Doors

6

(2)

What about These Three Doorways?

6

(2)

The Age of the Entrepreneur

8

(1)

Rev Up

9

(2)

Ready to Start?

9

(1)

Why Do You Want to Be an Entrepreneur?

10

(1)

What Is Your Current Family and Financial Picture?

11

(1)

What Does It Take to Be an Entrepreneur?

12

(9)

Entrepreneurial Success

13

(4)

Defining Business Success

17

(1)

Interviewing Successful Entrepreneurs

18

(3)

Spotting Trends and Opportunities

21

(26)

Opening Your Eyes and Mind to Vast Opportunities

22

(4)

It's a Dynamic World

23

(1)

Environmental Variables

23

(3)

Changing Families

26

(10)

Boomer Explosion

28

(2)

The Splintering of the Mass Market

30

(2)

Information Overload

32

(1)

Franchisers Respond to Cultural Changes

32

(1)

Technology Revolution

33

(3)

Information Is Everywhere

36

(3)

Secondary Research

37

(2)

Primary Research

39

(1)

``New Eyes'' Research

39

(1)

The Big Picture

40

(1)

Brainstorm Your Way into Small Business

41

(2)

Brainstorming Techniques

42

(1)

Life-Cycle Stages

43

(4)

Opportunity Selection

47

(28)

Welcome to Opportunity Selection

48

(2)

Industry Research

50

(3)

Conducting Secondary Research for Your Selected Industry

53

(10)

Libraries

54

(1)

Trade Associations

55

(4)

Trade Shows

59

(1)

Additional Resources for Research and Opportunity Gathering

60

(3)

Primary Research on Your Selected Industry

63

(1)

Industry Segmentation and Gap Analysis

64

(2)

More Brainstorming for Possible Solutions

66

(1)

Matrix Analysis

67

(1)

Taking Stock

68

(1)

Define Your Business

68

(7)

What Business Are You Really In?

69

(6)

Profiling Your Target Customer

75

(27)

The Power of Profiling

76

(6)

What Can We Learn from Media Sources?

78

(1)

Reviewing the Media Kit

79

(1)

Changing Profiles

80

(2)

Profiling in Action

82

(15)

Profiling Business-to-Business Customers

92

(1)

Primary Research Is Absolutely Necessary!

93

(2)

Observing Target Customers

95

(1)

Private Phone Room Idea

96

(1)

Surveys

96

(1)

Make Customer Profiling a Reflex

97

(1)

Invisible Customers

97

(1)

Visualizing Your Target Customer

98

(4)

Reading and Beating the Competition

102

(21)

Who Is Your Competition?

104

(1)

Customer Touchpoints

104

(1)

Scouting the Competition

105

(3)

Seek and Ye Shall Find

105

(2)

Additional Secondary Research Sources

107

(1)

Competitive Intelligence

108

(6)

Primary Research

110

(2)

Manufacturing and Scientific Competition

112

(2)

Gather Your Competitive Intelligence and Learn How to Distinguish Yourself

114

(1)

Competition and Positioning

114

(1)

The Competition Life Cycle

115

(1)

Competition and Positioning in a Mature Market

116

(7)

Create a New Arena

118

(1)

Create Uniqueness by Continually Changing Your Product or Service

119

(1)

You Can Do It!

120

(3)

Marketing Promotions Overview

123

(23)

Promotional Strategies

124

(11)

The Promotional Mix

124

(1)

Potential Strategies

125

(10)

Winning Promotional Strategies

135

(3)

Sales Reps as Connectors

138

(1)

Networking

139

(3)

Why You Should Network

141

(1)

Networking Organizations

141

(1)

Exceptional Customer Service as Promotion

142

(2)

What Is Your Customer Worth?

143

(1)

Attach Price Tags to Your Promotional Strategies

144

(2)

Location, Location, Location

146

(31)

The Importance of Location

147

(1)

What Is the Perfect Location?

147

(1)

A Location Filter

147

(6)

Target Market

148

(1)

Transportation Lines

148

(1)

Neighbor Mix

148

(1)

Competition

148

(1)

Security and Safety

148

(1)

Labor Pool and Education

148

(1)

Restrictions and Opportunities

148

(1)

Services

149

(1)

Costs

149

(1)

Ownership

149

(1)

Past Tenants

149

(1)

Accessibility to Customers

149

(1)

Space

149

(1)

History of the Property

149

(1)

Physical Visibility

149

(1)

Life-Cycle Stage of the Area

149

(1)

Funding Opportunities

150

(1)

Image

150

(3)

Where to Go for Location Information

153

(9)

Targeting by Census Tract

153

(9)

Before You Sign a Lease

162

(1)

Commercial Real Estate

162

(4)

Agents/Commercial Brokers

162

(1)

Anticipate the Unexpected

162

(1)

How to Rewrite a Lease with Your Lawyer's Assistance

163

(3)

Office/Business/Retail Location Alternatives

166

(1)

Consider a Just-in-Time Location

166

(1)

Business Incubators

166

(11)

Home Offices

169

(1)

Swap Meets and Fairs

170

(1)

Kiosks

171

(1)

Internet Location

171

(1)

Enterprise Zones

171

(6)

Start-Up Concerns and Financial Projections

177

(25)

Chart Your Business Future with Numbers

178

(2)

Start-Up Costs

178

(1)

Pricing

178

(1)

Seasonality Scenarios

178

(1)

Sales Projections and What-If Scenarios

178

(1)

Projected Income Statements and Cash Flow

179

(1)

Balance Sheet

179

(1)

Break-Even Analysis

180

(1)

Financial Ratios

180

(1)

Start-Up Costs and Concerns

180

(3)

Boot-Strapping

183

(2)

How to Save Money

183

(2)

Seeking Advice

185

(1)

Pricing

185

(1)

Seasonality Scenarios

185

(3)

Sales Projections and What-If Scenarios

188

(1)

Income Statements and Cash Flow

188

(5)

Balance Sheet

193

(1)

Break-Even Analysis

194

(3)

Leaving a Paper Trail

197

(1)

Financial Ratios

197

(5)

Current Ratio

197

(1)

Liquidity Ratio

197

(1)

Return on Investment

197

(5)

Shaking the Money Tree

202

(27)

Before Committing Money

204

(1)

What Is Your Risk Tolerance?

204

(1)

What Is Your Credit History?

205

(1)

Credit Reporting Agencies---What Do They Know about You?

205

(3)

Key Factors of Your Credit Score

205

(1)

Availability of Cash and Credit

206

(2)

Your Bottom Line

208

(1)

Shaking the Most Fruitful Branches First

208

(1)

Self-Financing

209

(1)

Your Money and Your Credit

209

(1)

Friends and Family

210

(2)

Banks

212

(7)

Bankers' Expectations

213

(1)

Strategies for Working with Your Banker

213

(2)

Make Your Banker a Member of Your Team

215

(1)

SBA Programs

215

(4)

State Programs and Local Development Authorities

219

(1)

Vendor Financing

220

(1)

Angels

221

(3)

Venture-Capital Firms

224

(5)

Legal Issues

229

(30)

It Pays to Look Ahead

230

(1)

Locate and Hire an Experienced Attorney from the Beginning!

231

(1)

Understanding How Lawyers Charge and Operate

232

(1)

Alternative Legal Forms of Business

232

(2)

Which Form of Business Is Best for You?

234

(7)

Sole Proprietorships

235

(1)

Partnerships

236

(2)

Corporations

238

(3)

Limited Liability Companies

241

(1)

Subchapter S Corporations

241

(1)

Protect Yourself

241

(4)

Buy-Sell Agreements

244

(1)

Copyrights, Patents, and Trademarks

245

(7)

Ten Things You Should Know to Protect Your Inventions

245

(3)

Ten Things You Should Know to Protect Your Artwork, Ads, Writings, and Software

248

(2)

Ten Things You Should Know to Protect Your Product and Business Names

250

(2)

Advertising within the Rules

252

(7)

Build, Maintain, and Thrive with a Winning Team

259

(24)

The Founding Team

260

(2)

The Virtual Organization and Outsourcing

262

(1)

Independent Contractors

263

(1)

Employee Leasing

263

(2)

The First Employees

265

(4)

Interview and Stay Out of Court

269

(1)

Ask the Right Questions

269

(1)

Checking References

270

(1)

What Do Employees Really Cost?

270

(5)

Maintaining Compliance

273

(2)

Workers Compensation Laws

275

(2)

Team Members

277

(6)

Find Mentors

278

(1)

Rounding Out the Personalities of Your Team

279

(4)

Protecting Your ``Baby'' and Yourself

283

(19)

Insurance

284

(5)

Managing Risk

284

(1)

Insurance Planning

285

(1)

Types of Coverage

286

(3)

Crime: Be Prepared---Take Preventative Steps!

289

(2)

The Tax Man Cometh!

291

(3)

Employment Taxes

292

(1)

Sales Taxes

292

(2)

Final Tax Thoughts

294

(1)

Exit Strategy

294

(3)

Ethics

297

(5)

Buying a Business

302

(30)

Why Purchase an Ongoing Business?

303

(3)

How to Buy and How Not to Buy

305

(1)

Getting the Word Out

306

(1)

Investigate the Business from the Outside

306

(3)

Learn from Others' Mistakes and Keep Digging

307

(1)

Know When You Need Outside Help

307

(2)

Investigate the Business from the Inside

309

(14)

Dealing with Brokers

309

(3)

How to Look at the Inside of a Business

312

(4)

Obtain a Non-Compete Covenant

316

(1)

Analyze the Seller's Motives

316

(1)

Examine the Asking Price

317

(2)

Tax Issues

319

(3)

Determine whether Bulk Sales Escrow Is Required

322

(1)

Negotiate the Value of Goodwill

322

(1)

The Decision to Buy

323

(1)

Prepare for Negotiations

324

(1)

Earn-Out: Earn Your Way to Success

325

(7)

Protect Yourself

327

(1)

Expect Some Pleasant Surprises

327

(5)

Investigating Franchises and Franchising

332

(19)

Conducting Business with Franchises and Determining If Franchising Is for You

333

(1)

Surfing the Net for Franchising Basics

334

(1)

Beware of Scams

335

(2)

Why Buy a Franchise?

337

(6)

What the Franchisee Receives

337

(2)

What the Franchisor Receives

339

(2)

General Franchise Issues and Concerns

341

(1)

Delving Deeper

342

(1)

Process Involved in Purchasing a Franchise

343

(8)

The Other Side of Franchising: Reasons for Not Purchasing a Franchise

346

(1)

Can You Franchise Your Idea and Become the Franchisor?

347

(1)

Franchising Trends and Final Thoughts

348

(3)

Pull Your Plan Together

351

(28)

How to Start Writing Your Business Plan

356

(3)

Three-Part Structure: Words, Numbers, and Appendixes

357

(1)

Business Plan Software

357

(1)

Outside Assistance in Writing a Business Plan

358

(1)

Reminders

358

(1)

Cover Letter

359

(1)

Elements of a Business Plan

360

(1)

The Table of Contents

360

(1)

Executive Summary

361

(2)

Section I

363

(1)

Description of the Business

363

(1)

The Service We Provide

363

(1)

Industry Overview and Target Customers

364

(1)

The Competition

365

(1)

Marketing Strategy

366

(1)

Geographical Factors and Site Selection/Facility Location

367

(2)

Management

369

(1)

Exit Strategy

370

(1)

Section II

371

(1)

Financial Section

371

(1)

Projected Income

372

(1)

Balance Sheet

372

(1)

Epilogue

373

(6)

Act on What You Know

373

(6)

Appendix A Fast-Start Business Plan

379

(13)

Quick Checklist

380

(1)

Structuring Your Plan

381

(1)

A Great Dream Can Equal Great Business

381

(1)

Who Are Your Competitors?

381

(1)

How Much Should You Charge?

382

(1)

Profile Your Target Customer

382

(1)

How Do You Make That Customer Connection?

382

(1)

What Are Your Start-Up Costs?

383

(1)

Charting Your Sales Goals for the First Three Months

383

(2)

Expense Forecast

385

(1)

Things-to-Do List

386

(1)

List of Necessities before Opening Day---Car Detailing Service

386

(1)

Your Turn Now!

386

(1)

Ten Commandments from Sam Walton

387

(1)

Yes, We Do Windows

387

(5)

Model Fast-Start Business Plan

387

(5)

Appendix B Annie's Business Plan Proposal

392

(15)

Cover Letter for Annie's

393

(1)

Business Plan Proposal for Specialty Chocolates and Candy Concession at Sea World